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Demystifying
Six Sigma
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American Management Association
New York • Atlanta • Brussels • Buenos Aires • Chicago • London • Mexico City
San Francisco • Shanghai • Tokyo • Toronto • Washington, D. C.
Demystifying
Six Sigma
A Company-Wide Approach to
Continuous Improvement
Alan Larson
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This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative
information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the
understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,
accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other ex-
pert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional
person should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Larson, Alan.
Six sigma demystified : a company-wide approach to continuous
improvement / Alan Larson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8144-7184-6
1. Total quality management. 2. Six sigma (Quality control standard)
3. Customer services—Quality control. I. Title.
HD62.15 .L372 2003
658.4'013—dc21 2002152003

© 2003 Alan Larson.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
This publication may not be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in whole or in part,
in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of AMACOM,
a division of American Management Association,
1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Printing number
10987654321
Special discounts on bulk quantities of AMACOM books are
available to corporations, professional associations, and other
organizations. For details, contact Special Sales Department,
AMACOM, a division of American Management Association,
1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Tel.: 212-903-8316. Fax: 212-903-8083.
Web Site: www.amacombooks.org
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Preface ix
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Chapter 1 The Grass Roots of Six Sigma 7
Why It Had to Be Invented 7
The Birth of Six Sigma 9
Black Belts and Green Belts 13
The Required Components 17
Notes 18
Chapter 2 Creating the Cultural Structure 19
Senior Management Roles and Engagement 19
Organizational Development 23
Requirements for Change 27
Note 31
Chapter 3 Preliminary Tasks 32
What Do You Want? 32
Selecting Projects 34
Collecting Data 37
Identifying Required Teams 37
CONTENTS
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Chapter 4 Step 1: Create the Operational Statement
and Metric 49
Operational Statement 49
Internal and External Defects 53
Metric 57
Variable Data 58
Attribute Data 60
Creating the Metric 63
Chapter 5 Step 2: Define the Improvement Teams 68
Identifying the Required Teams 68
Pareto Diagram 69
Staffing the Teams 73
Determining Required Skills and Knowledge 78
Roles and Responsibilities 78
Rules of Conduct 82
Notes 86

Chapter 6 Step 3: Identify Potential Causes 87
Flowcharting 87
Brainstorming 99
Fishbone Diagram 103
Prioritizing 105
Chapter 7 Step 4: Investigation and Root
Cause Identification 108
Action Plan 108
Check Sheet 112
Stratification 122
Histogram 126
Scatter Diagram 130
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Chapter 8 Step 5: Make Improvement Permanent 138
Institutionalization 138
Work Method Change 142
Physical Change 142
Procedural Change 145
Training 145
Notes 148
Chapter 9 Step 6: Demonstrate Improvement
and Celebrate 149
Back to Focused Metric 149
Success of the Enterprise 151
Team Recognition 153
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Chapter 10 Start Your Journey 159
Do Something 159
The Fallacy of Zero Defects 160
First Steps 163
Before and After 169
Chapter 11 Managing Change 170
Overview 170
Leadership 172
Participation 172
Training 175
A Six Sigma Change Management Model 175
Your Six Sigma Journey 181
Notes 181
Index 183
C
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I was one of the original divisional quality directors at Mo-
torola chartered with developing, training, and deploying
the culture and methods of Six Sigma. We were able to re-
duce costs, improve efficiencies, and maximize customer
satisfaction in all operations. Within the manufacturing

operations, we reduced the cost of sales by 30 percent. In
administrative and service functions, we reduced cycle
times and cost by as much as 90 percent. In 1990 and 1991
our division was used as the internal benchmark for service
and administrative quality.
This success was based on creating a Six Sigma culture in
which goals and objectives were clearly defined and com-
municated, the creation of a six-step continuous improve-
ment model utilizing the JUSE (Japanese Union of
Scientists and Engineers) seven problem-solving tools, and
the effective management of the change. This book is writ-
ten so that others can learn and apply these techniques.
This book consists of three sections. Section One is about
how to identify the need for a Six Sigma program and how
to establish a Six Sigma culture. Section Two teaches a prag-
matic six-step continuous improvement model. This con-
tinuous improvement model can be learned and used by all
employees in manufacturing, administration, and service
operations. Section Three presents methods for managing
PREFACE
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the change and a guide on what to expect during the phases
of implementation.
Benefits to the Reader
❑ How to establish a Six Sigma culture
❑ A simple and practical continuous improvement
model
❑ How to manage the change required for Six Sigma
This book is beneficial to all who are interested in im-
proving their performance and the performance of the

enterprise for which they work.
The first section will be most helpful to managers and
leaders—those who must define and create the Six Sigma–
based culture that will nurture a successful Six Sigma pro-
gram. A Six Sigma culture starts with a clear understanding
of who the customers are and what is required for complete
customer satisfaction. Data systems must be established to
measure and monitor customer satisfaction. Improvement
goals must be set, and programs must be initiated to achieve
the goals. Everyone must know their role in achieving com-
plete customer satisfaction and success for the enterprise.
Key Elements of Six Sigma
❑ Focused on Customer Satisfaction
❑ Data
❑ Reach-Out Goals
❑ Team Based
❑ All Employees Involved
❑ Clear Definition and Understanding of Roles
❑ Personal Growth
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REFACE
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The second section of the book is helpful to all employ-
ees. This section is about how to establish improvement
programs that are customer focused, team based, and de-
ployed throughout the entire workforce. The six-step con-
tinuous improvement method is equally applicable to
manufacturing operations, administrative functions, and
service organizations. The program must be focused on

the key success initiatives of the company, which in turn
are focused on complete customer satisfaction in all aspects
of doing business. For some operations the customers will
be external to the company, and for others the customers
will be internal to the company. The tools and techniques
presented in this book are applicable in all cases.
In the second section the reader will learn the JUSE
seven tools of problem solving and how to apply these
tools in a six-step process for continuous improvement to
achieve Six Sigma performance levels.
JUSE Seven Tools
❑ Pareto Diagram
❑ Fishbone Diagram
❑ Check Sheet
❑ Histogram
❑ Stratification
❑ Scatter Diagram
❑ Charting
Section Three offers suggestions on how to start your
Six Sigma initiatives and how to manage the changes that
will occur.
Think continuous improvement. Without it, you are los-
ing ground. Without it, the best case is that you are holding
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steady while your competitors are leaving you behind. The
more likely case is that your performance is deteriorating
while your competitors are improving. Systems left on their

own tend to atrophy. As the world has evolved to a global
market, competition has intensified. Superior product and
service will distinguish the winners from the losers.
Six Sigma and the continuous improvement model are
about tools and techniques that can be learned and suc-
cessfully used by all employees. I have trained, facilitated,
and coached this system to a very diverse group of enter-
prises. I use the term “enterprise” in the generic sense to
include companies, operations within companies, small
work groups, nonprofit organizations, retail operations,
food service, financial services, and sales. Any group of
people that is performing a service or creating a product
will benefit from this.
Six Sigma is about total employee involvement. Many
programs labeled Six Sigma include just a small portion of
the company’s total workforce. This results in getting very
limited benefit while most of your resources, and the in-
telligence they possess, remain unused. The beauty of Six
Sigma and the very core of its early development and suc-
cessful application was that it included all employees. The
major benefits of improved customer satisfaction, market
share gains, reduced operating costs, profit improvements,
and increased stock prices are fueled primarily by teams of
direct labor employees. The material presented is useful to
everyone within the enterprise from the senior executives,
who will be setting the vision and supporting the pro-
grams, to the shop floor or office cubicle people who are
performing the tasks.
Every enterprise exists to support a customer base. Cus-
tomers are the only source of income or funding. Satisfying

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the customers beyond their expectations and better than
your competition must be closely tied to the survival of
every enterprise.
Six Sigma is about building quality into all of your
operations. The quality levels required today cannot be
achieved by inspecting quality in or by sorting good from
bad at final outgoing. The service industry never has had
the luxury of inspecting quality in. Every encounter in
service is a moment of truth where customer expectations
are either met or not. I refer to inspecting quality in as a
luxury because even if you could do it, your costs of man-
ufacturing would then be too high.
Six Sigma is about engaging the people who perform
the work to determine why performance levels are not as
good as they should be and to create the policies, proce-
dures, and work practices that will ensure complete cus-
tomer satisfaction. The benefits of having the workers
develop their own solutions include a sense of ownership
and pride. This also enables employees to utilize their in-
nate intelligence and existing skills sets, to learn new skills,
and to feel better about themselves and their roles in the
success of the company. High morale is a natural result of
using these methods.
The following quote is taken from one of Motorola’s
early Six Sigma teams. It is an excellent example of how
people thought about this program and the results that

they achieved. The members of this team were all direct
labor employees from the factory floor.
There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When
you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s
convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept
no excuses, only results.
P
REFACE
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SECTION ONE
The Basics of
Six Sigma
How to create a culture that thinks and operates in
terms of complete customer satisfaction. How to build
a workforce that is engaged and committed to the
success of the company.
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1 August 1965
0115 GMT North Atlantic off the coast of Norway.
Depth 200 feet. Speed six knots. Heading 010. At
the height of the Cold War, the American subma-
rine Sam Houston is on patrol carrying sixteen nu-
clear missiles with multiple warheads. Its role is as a
determent to Russia initiating a first-strike attack.
The Sam Houston, and submarines like her, has the
ability to retaliate with mass destruction.

0117 GMT Loud noise and escaping steam in the en-
gine room. Throughout the ship power is lost to
lighting and operating systems. The machinist mates
report that the main valve to the starboard electrical
generator has failed. The chief of the watch reports
that the valve has been isolated and the steam leak
has stopped. The starboard generator is out of ser-
vice. Forward, the auxiliary electrician has turned off
power to all unnecessary loads. To keep the nuclear
reactor temperature and pressure in the safe area, the
operator has been adjusting control rod heights and
pump speeds. The conning officer has ordered a
depth change from 200 feet to 100 feet.
0118 GMT “Conn, this is engineering. We have lost
the starboard generator. Damage has been isolated.
Damage assessment now in progress.”
“Conn, this is the captain. What’s the situation?”
“Engineering reports loss of starboard generator and
is assessing damage.”
0119 GMT (Over the loudspeaker system): “This is the
captain. We have lost half of our electrical generation
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capability. Rig ship for reduced power.” The cook
turns off all ovens and stovetops. All lights in crew’s
quarters are turned off. In the torpedo room, lighting

is reduced to a few emergency lights. Coffeepots are
killed. The missile technicians have activated emer-
gency backup power.
0122 GMT Machinist mate reports that the main steam
valve to the starboard generator blew its packing.
Stores has been contacted and is searching for spare
parts.
0124 GMT Stores reports that they have all necessary
spare parts on board. They have been collected and
are now being delivered to engineering. “Conn, this
is engineering. Repair parts are on their way. Ma-
chinist mates estimate repair time to be six hours.”
0125 GMT “Captain, this is the Conn. Engineering re-
ports that repair parts are in hand and estimate repair
time of six hours.”
“Okay Conn, I’m on my way up.”
0130 GMT From the Conn: “This is the captain. Con-
gratulations to everyone for a job well done. All
critical and necessary systems are operational. We
will remain on reduced power for approximately six
hours. That means we’ll be having a cold breakfast
this morning. Also, the smoking lamp is out until
further notice. We’ve all been through these things
before, and we’ll all be inconvenienced together.”
Yes, I was in the submarine service during the Cold War,
and yes, I am proud of my service. But why would I start a
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book on Six Sigma based on this experience? Because op-
erations like this are where a successful Six Sigma culture
starts. What is notable about a submarine crew is that it is
made up of diverse people with a variety of training and
skills. All are well trained and qualified for their respective
assignments. All realize that they are part of a larger whole
with an important part to play in the successful completion
of a mission. Although there is a hierarchy of command and
responsibilities, everyone has respect for each member of
the crew. Most importantly they realize that they will suc-
ceed or fail as a unit. Either the mission will be accom-
plished successfully and all hands will return safely to port
and loved ones, or none of them will. During the Cold War
two American submarines sank; there were no survivors.
Now, shift this to your work situation. Is there a hier-
archy of command and responsibility? Is the workforce
diverse, with different levels of education, training, and
knowledge? Is everyone well trained and qualified for their
respective assignments? The answer to these three questions
is most likely yes. However, if documentation of the train-
ing needs and job certification requirements for a qualified
employee at all job assignments is lacking, you must define
them and commence remedial action to bring the incum-
bent workforce up to minimal requirements.

Do all of the employees realize that they are part of a
larger whole? Do the employees realize what their roles
are and how they contribute to the success of the com-
pany? Does everyone have respect for each member of the
workforce? Is there a sense among all employees that they
will succeed or fail as a unit? Unless you have already es-
tablished a Six Sigma, or equivalent, culture, the answer to
these questions is probably no.
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Six Sigma is about creating a culture where all of these
things are established and deployed throughout the entire
workforce. It is about providing a structure in which
everyone knows what is expected of them, what their
contributions are, and how to measure their own success.
It is about creating an environment where people feel
good about themselves. It is about providing the training
and tools that everyone will need to maximize their and
their team’s performance. It is about being results ori-
ented, fueled by continuous improvement, and focused
on customer satisfaction.
A Six Sigma culture contains:
❑ A diverse workforce with varying levels of
education
❑ Training programs to teach the required skills
❑ An understanding by everyone of their roles for

success
❑ A unified workforce where everyone feels like part
of a greater whole
❑ Mutual respect for everyone’s knowledge and skills
❑ A commitment to succeed
❑ A focus on customer satisfaction
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CHAPTER 1
The Grass Roots of
Six Sigma
Why It Had to Be Invented
In the mid-1980s Motorola was losing ground in every
market that they served. Customer dissatisfaction and
frustration with Motorola were epidemic. Operating costs
were too high, which led to dismal profits. In all cases the
lost market share was being taken over by Japanese com-
petitors. I remember Bob Galvin, Motorola’s CEO from
1970 to 1988 and chairman of the board from 1964 to

1990, saying that if the Japanese had not existed, we
would have needed to invent them. I interpreted this to
mean that someone had to give us a wake-up call.
Throughout its customer base, Motorola had a reputa-
tion for being arrogant. Bob Galvin was chagrined by an
article in one of the trade magazines, in which the head of
purchasing of one of our major customers for communi-
cations equipment was quoted as saying about Motorola,
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“Love, love, love the product; hate, hate, hate the com-
pany.” Bob cited this quote several times to his leadership
team.
Motorola’s systems for doing business were not designed
for customer satisfaction. Contract reviews, responses to
requests for quote, invoicing, responses to customer com-
plaints, and most other administrative and service opera-
tions were victims of a system that allowed for apathetic
management and disinterested workers. The internal bu-
reaucracy fed on itself with little regard for serving the cus-
tomers. Response times were long, and responses usually
were not designed to satisfy the customer.
The quality and reliability of Motorola’s product were
also not what they should have been. Customers were re-
ceiving too many out-of-box failures. After the product
passed their incoming requirements, they often suffered
high levels of early-life failures. Warranty returns were a
major drain on profits. A wireless communications divi-
sion was suffering huge losses, threatened lawsuits, and
lost business with a major customer. The division quality
manager was tasked with determining what was causing

such poor field performance. His study of early-life fail-
ures discovered that they were predominately units that
had failed at final test and had to go back through a re-
work cycle.
Fortunately, the same Japanese that were destroying
Motorola in the marketplace also provided a benchmark
for how things could be done better. A group of senior
managers and executives were sent on a benchmarking
tour of Japan to study operating methods and product
quality levels. They discovered that Japan had a national
program for employee involvement and teaming, focused
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on improving operations to better serve the customers.
The Japanese had managed to use not only the muscle that
their employees provided but also their brains and knowl-
edge. They also discovered, no surprise here, that the
more complicated a product, the higher the opportunities
for failure.
Motorola’s problems were present in all of their busi-
ness units and product lines. Something had to happen,
and it had to be major, and it had to get positive results

quickly. Thus was born the need to create Six Sigma.
The Birth of Six Sigma
From its customers Motorola learned that they needed to
change their systems in all operations—manufacturing,
service, administration, and sales—to focus on total cus-
tomer satisfaction. From the Japanese they learned that in-
cluding all of your employees in the company brain trust
was an effective means of increasing efficiency and morale.
From the Japanese they also learned that simpler designs
result in higher levels of quality and reliability. From the
early-life field failure study they learned that they needed
to improve manufacturing techniques to ensure that prod-
ucts were built right the first time.
Motorola’s leaders pulled this together to establish the
vision and set the framework for Six Sigma. Posters were
hung up, and small cards were given to all employees (see
Figure 1-1).
Thus was Six Sigma launched in 1987. The corporate
leaders toured the world to all Motorola sites to explain
that this new initiative is going to be the operating mantra
of Motorola for the future. Bob Galvin personally traveled
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to most major sites worldwide. Of course, there was a lot
of skepticism. This looked like another program du jour.
“We’ll get excited about it, and two months from now
nobody will remember” was typical of the statements you
heard at all levels.
However, the corporate leaders did a very thorough job
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OUR FUNDAMENTAL
OBJECTIVE
(Everyone’s Overriding Responsibility)
Total Customer Satisfaction
KEY BELIEFS—how we will always act
• Constant Respect for People
• Uncompromising Integrity
KEY GOALS—what we must accomplish
• Best in Class
-People
-Marketing
-Technology

-Product: Software, Hardware and Systems
-Manufacturing
-Service
KEY INITIATIVES—how we will do it
• Six Sigma Quality
• Total Cycle Time Reduction
• Product, Manufacturing and Environmental
Leadership
• Profit Improvement
• Empowerment for All, in a Participative,
Cooperative and Creative Workplace
Figure 1-1. Motorola launch.
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